


one, two, three (cats in a row)

by alateni



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Cats, Fluff, Kittens, M/M, domestic AU, minghao is mentioned maybe twice?, non Canon, the fluffiest of fluff, this is really short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 16:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14336373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alateni/pseuds/alateni
Summary: Looking down, Jihoon untangles his hands and reaches down, one finger flicking at an ear. The cat laying in his lap lets out a small whine, flipping over and pawing at Jihoon’s finger with the animosity of a lion but the strength of a piece of paper. Jihoon giggles. Junhui cries. The taller man drops to his knees, hands grasping Jihoon’s knees as he presses his face close to the kitten. The feline doesn’t take kindly to the intrusion, scrambling closer to Jihoon’s stomach, tail swinging from side to side. Cat did not like. It made Junhui sad.





	one, two, three (cats in a row)

Pouting. Jihoon can feel it even without turning around. A sigh. Jihoon can hear it even though he’s wearing headphones. A whine. Jihoon can imagine the exact words. But he doesn’t. He ignores it all, staring at the laptop in front of him instead. Junhui could pout, sigh, and whine all he wanted, but that wouldn’t change anything.

Until it could, because as well as Jihoon knew Junhui, he never thought the other boy would go as far as _taking his headphones off_.

“Jihoon! Are you listening to me?” Junhui whines, face right by Jihoon’s ear. The shorter male grunts. He sighs. He pauses. But alas, Junhui was just as stubborn as he was, and nothing he could do would deter the Chinese man from leaving him alone. Junhui one, Jihoon zero.

“I guess I am now,” Jihoon turns around. He places his headphones on the desk, pausing the program on his laptop, before placing his full attention on Junhui. Junhui grins slightly, before throwing his hands on his hips and frowning. A cute wrinkle makes its way in between Junhui’s eyebrows, and Jihoon gets an odd urge to push at it until it disappeared. Junhui should never be sad. Never.

“What’s wrong?” Jihoon says instead, crossing his hands over his chest. He shifts slightly, legs tired from sitting around all day. Stretching his legs out, he narrowly misses kicking Junhui in the thigh as he groans. There was nothing better than a good stretch after staying in the same spot for too long. Except for food. And sleep. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best thing in the world, but Jihoon appreciates the sentiment. “Junhui?” Jihoon brings his legs closer to his chair, looking up when Junhui refuses to make a sound. “Are you feeling okay?”

Junhui shakes his head. He pouts. He stomps his foot. Jihoon mentally compares him to a toddler. Regardless, Junhui raises a shaky finger and points downwards. Right at Jihoon’s lap.

Looking down, Jihoon untangles his hands and reaches down, one finger flicking at an ear. The cat laying in his lap lets out a small whine, flipping over and pawing at Jihoon’s finger with the animosity of a lion but the strength of a piece of paper. Jihoon giggles. Junhui cries. The taller man drops to his knees, hands grasping Jihoon’s knees as he presses his face close to the kitten. The feline doesn’t take kindly to the intrusion, scrambling closer to Jihoon’s stomach, tail swinging from side to side. Cat did not like. It made Junhui sad.

“Why does Pepper like you,” Junhui whines, “and not me?”. He leans back when the small animal hisses. He sits, defeated, watching as Pepper curls up and tucks her little tiny kitten paws underneath herself. Like a loaf of bread. Jihoon can almost see the hearts in Junhui’s eyes.

“Maybe because you bother her too much,” Jihoon replies idly. He pets the cat a couple times, feeling the happy purring from the animal rather than hearing it. Junhui’s pout increases tenfold. At this rate, Jihoon worries that Junhui’s face will stay in a permanent pout. That wouldn’t be good. For both Junhui and Jihoon.

“I,” Junhui trails off, he tries to defend himself, but Jihoon already knows the truth. Too many times within the last two weeks had he come home to Junhui attacking the small cat with his love. “I don’t!” Jihoon raises an eyebrow. “I promise,” Junhui deflates. He seems really beaten down about the whole thing, and Jihoon can’t help but feel bad for him. It was his idea to adopt a cat, something about wanting to take care of an animal now that Minghao from next door had gone to France for a year. Junhui calls it an investment. Jihoon calls it empty-nest syndrome.

“Is that from your point of view are the cat’s?” Jihoon pushes. He stops petting the feline, ignoring the affronted look Pepper gives him. Instead, Jihoon reaches over and pets Junhui on the head, softly, firmly. It makes Junhui preen, some sadness leaving his eyes. Jihoon likes to think that he has two cats at home now instead of the usual one. Junhui didn’t take kindly to that comparison.

Junhui mumbles, “mine.” He deflates, and Jihoon increases his petting. It stops Junhui from completely melting into a puddle of sadness, but the boy looks back up at Jihoon with a kind of helplessness in his eyes that makes Jihoon want to fight everyone and everything that had ever made Junhui sad. But he can’t. Not when the current source of Junhui’s woes laid in his own lap – unmoving and, most importantly, uncaring of Junhui’s utter desperation.

“It’s okay Junnie, you just have to give her some time,” Jihoon whispers. He had learned, over the years, that the best way to treat Junhui when he was down was, well, to treat him the same way he would treat Pepper. “Not everyone can get used to your loving ways so quickly. She’s only been with us for two weeks.”

“Two weeks is enough time!” Junhui insists, jumping forwards. The sudden movement startles the cat, causing Pepper to spring up and jump away from Jihoon’s lap. The little feline runs out of the room, but before Junhui can follow, Jihoon grabs onto his arm. It makes Junhui fall onto his bottom, and the Chinese male complains, whining to Jihoon as the other man shakes his head.

“Look,” he says, holding a finger up before Junhui can say anything else. “Give her some time okay? I know you love her a lot, and I’m sure she knows too, but you can’t just launch yourself at her. She’s a stray Junnie, they take time to warm up to people.”

Junhui pouts. His lower lip shakes. Jihoon remains adamant in his stare. It takes some time, but a little while later, Junhui sucks his lip back up – pout no longer in sight. It seems like Junhui has made some sort of resolution, whatever made him happy Jihoon supposes. Standing up, Junhui straightens up, a small smile gracing his face. He leans over, making Jihoon lean back. Searching Junhui’s face, the shorter male finds nothing but amusement. He doesn’t know which he liked better, a sad, sensitive Junhui, or an amused, mischievous one.

“You know,” Junhui starts, “I chose Pepper because she reminded me of someone. At first, I thought it might’ve been Minghao,” Junhui pauses. Mentally, Jihoon agrees. “But now I think I was wrong. Pepper doesn’t really act like Minghao.”

“Who does she act like then?” Jihoon narrows his eyebrows. Junhui smiles. Jihoon’s heart melts. Just a little bit.

Reaching down, Junhui gives Jihoon a soft peck on the nose before whispering, “she acts a lot like you.” Before Jihoon can respond, he receives a full kiss on the lips.

Ah, Jihoon thinks in between kisses, looks like there were three cats in the house now.

**Author's Note:**

> This is really short. I think it might be the shortest work I've written in a while, but it was kinda, eh. I wrote it in a way to make myself feel better and try to break out of my writer's block. I don't think it worked, and I really should be studying for exams, but it's 5 AM and at least I accomplished one thing today?
> 
> I've recently been liking Junhoon a lot and my city's going through an ice storm so cuddling with a cat is all I really want to do rn (too bad I don't own a cat) so those two ideas mixed together. Also inspired by [this.](https://www.instagram.com/p/BhRy-usBVu6/?taken-by=thekao)
> 
> Reminder that you can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/alatenii) if you'd like!
> 
>   
> Hope you're smiling!  
> 
> 
>   
> ~ alateni  
> 


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